GM India Posts 68% Rise In 2007 Sales

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- The Indian unit of General Motors Corp. (GM) Tuesday said it posted a 68% rise in sales last year as demand for models such as the Chevrolet Spark minicar rose in the South Asian nation.

GM, the world's biggest automaker by sales, sold a record 60,032 vehicles in India in 2007, compared with 35,823 vehicles a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

General Motors India Pvt. Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of GM and produces vehicles at a factory in the western state of Gujarat. It will invest more than $300 million to build a second factory in the western state of Maharashtra that will have a capacity of 140,000 vehicles a year when production starts by the end of 2008.

GM's sales in December more than doubled to 6,309 units from 2,583 units a year earlier. That was the highest-ever monthly sales for GM since it began operations in India in 1996, the company said.

The December sales comprised 2,179 units of the Chevrolet Tavera sport-utility vehicle and 1,508 units of the Spark minicar, which was introduced in April last year.